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Pilot Certificate Statistics

Total estimated active pilot certificates | Estimated active pilots and flight instructors by age |
Estimated active pilots and flight instructors by FAA region

Total Estimated Active Pilot Certificates Held
Yearly data Student Rec Sport Private Commercial ATP Other Total
1929 — — — 4,162 5,053 — — 9,215
1930 — — — 7,433 7,847 — — 15,280
1931 — — — 9,226 8,513 — — 17,739
1932 — — — 10,297 7,964 330 — 18,591
1933 — — — 5,771 7,635 554 — 13,960
1934 — — — 5,789 7,484 676 — 13,949
1935 — — — 6,707 7,062 736 — 14,505
1936 — — — 7,622 7,288 842 — 15,752
1937 — — — 10,206 6,411 1,064 — 17,681
1938 — — — 13,985 7,839 1,159 — 22,983
1939 — — — 20,832 11,677 1,197 — 33,706
1940 — — — 49,507 18,791 1,431 — 69,729
1941 — — — 93,782 34,578 1,587 — 129,947
1942 — — — 108,689 55,760 2,177 — 166,626
1943 — — — 106,951 63,940 2,315 — 173,206
1944 — — — 111,883 66,449 3,046 — 181,378
1945 — — — 128,207 162,873 5,815 — 296,895
1946 — — — 189,156 203,251 7,654 — 400,061
1947 — — — 244,270 181,912 7,059 — 433,241
1948 — — — 306,699 176,845 7,762 — 491,306
1949 — — — 328,380 187,789 9,025 — 525,194
1950 — — — — — — — —
1951 — — — 371,854 197,900 10,813 — 580,567
1952 — — — 371,174 191,824 10,893 — 573,891
1953 — — — — — 18,279 — 18,279
1954 71,959 — — 184,595 80,340 12,129 — 349,023
1955 80,494 — — 132,526 72,957 11,774 — 297,751
1956 95,124 — — 96,864 54,542 11,173 — 257,703
1957 98,498 — — 124,799 70,813 13,964 — 308,074
1958 103,456 — — 140,673 93,126 15,840 — 353,095
1959 107,816 — — 139,804 93,815 18,950 — 360,385
1960 99,182 — — 138,869 89,904 18,279 1,828 348,062
1961 93,973 — — 144,312 92,976 19,155 2,444 352,860
1962 94,870 — — 149,405 95,047 20,032 4,617 363,971
1963 105,298 — — 152,209 96,341 20,269 4,583 378,700
1964 120,743 — — 175,574 108,428 21,572 4,724 431,041
1965 139,172 — — 196,393 116,665 22,440 5,100 479,770
1966 165,177 — — 222,427 131,539 23,917 5,697 548,757
1967 181,287 — — 253,312 150,135 25,817 7,380 617,931
1968 209,406 — — 281,728 164,458 28,607 7,496 691,695
1969 203,520 — — 299,491 176,585 31,442 8,990 720,028
1970 195,861 — — 303,779 186,821 34,430 11,838 732,729
1971 186,428 — — 312,656 192,409 35,949 13,567 741,009
1972 181,477 — — 321,413 196,228 37,714 14,037 750,869
1973 181,905 — — 298,921 182,444 38,139 13,198 714,607
1974 180,795 — — 305,848 192,425 41,002 13,658 733,728
1975 176,978 — — 305,863 189,342 42,592 13,412 728,187
1976 188,801 — — 309,005 187,801 45,072 13,567 744,246
1977 203,510 — — 327,424 188,763 50,149 14,086 783,932
1978 204,874 — — 337,644 185,833 55,881 14,601 798,833
1979 210,180 — — 343,276 182,097 63,652 15,462 814,667
1980 199,833 — — 357,479 183,442 69,569 16,748 827,071
1981 179,912 — — 328,562 168,580 70,311 16,817 764,182
1982 156,361 — — 322,094 165,093 73,471 16,236 733,255
1983 147,197 — — 318,643 159,495 75,938 16,731 718,004
1984 150,081 — — 320,086 155,929 79,192 17,088 722,376
1985 146,652 — — 311,086 151,632 82,740 17,430 709,540
1986 150,273 — — 305,736 147,798 87,186 18,125 709,118
1987 146,016 — — 300,949 143,645 91,287 17,756 699,653
1988 136,913 — — 299,786 143,030 96,968 17,319 694,016
1989 142,544 — — 293,179 144,540 102,087 17,660 700,010
1990 128,663 87 — 299,111 149,666 107,732 17,400 702,659
1991 120,203 161 — 293,306 148,365 112,167 17,893 692,095
1992 114,597 187 — 288,078 146,385 115,855 17,857 682,959
1993 103,583 206 — 283,700 143,014 117,070 17,496 665,069
1994 96,254 241 — 284,236 138,728 117,434 17,195 654,088
1995 101,279 232 — 261,399 133,676 123,877 18,416 638,879
1996 94,947 265 — 254,002 129,187 127,486 16,374 622,261
1997 96,101 284 — 247,604 125,300 130,858 16,195 616,342
1998 97,736 305 — 247,226 122,053 134,612 16,366 618,298
1999 97,359 343 — 258,749 124,261 137,642 17,118 635,472
2000 93,064 340 — 251,561 121,858 141,596 17,162 625,581
2001 94,420 316 — 243,823 120,502 144,702 16,200 619,963
2002 85,991 317 — 245,230 125,920 144,708 29,596 609,936
2003 87,296 310 — 241,045 123,990 143,504 28,866 625,011
2004 87,910 291 — 235,994 122,592 142,160 29,686 618,633
2005 87,213 278 134 228,619 120,614 141,992 30,887 609,737
2006 84,866 239 939 219,233 117,610 141,935 32,287 597,109
2007 84,339 239 2,031 211,096 115,127 143,953 33,564 590,349
2008 80,989 252 2,623 222,596 124,746 146,838 35,702 613,746
2009 72,280 238 3,248 229,767 141,027 147,725 30,242 624,527
594,285
Note:
*2008 - Forecast
Other includes helicopter (only) and glider (only).
In March 2001, the FAA Registry changed the definition of "Other" pilot category. It added approx. 13,000 to this category
Source: FAA - Administrator's Fact Book, 2008

Estimated active pilots and flight instructors by age range (As of 12/31/2008)
  STU SPT REC PVT COM ATP   Total   CFI
Totals in 2008 80,989 2,623 257 240,683 139,489 149,705 613,746 93,202
               
14-15 190 0 0 0 0 0 190 0
16-19 11,562 18 3 3,846 561 0 15,990 73
20-24 17,850 29 25 18,660 11,674 196 48,434 5,116
25-29 11,434 40 11 17,728 20,626 4,463 54,302 10,588
30-34 7,197 74 11 15,983 14,157 10,749 48,171 9,652
35-39 6,555 105 18 20,274 13,130 17,679 57,761 10,449
40-44 6,426 225 22 24,349 11,893 23,414 66,329 9,993
45-49 6,378 372 25 26,195 11,297 25,828 70,095 9,544
50-54 5,346 500 29 32,105 12,440 23,583 74,003 9,499
55-59 3,657 502 44 29,705 12,486 18,191 64,585 8,677
60-64 2,263 387 19 23,202 13,183 14,434 53,488 8,502
65-69 1,224 223 20 15,010 9,282 6,743 32,502 5,413
70-74 567 106 6 7,221 4,543 2,699 15,142 3,079
75-79 227 35 14 4,238 2,644 1,157 8,315 1,665
80 and over 113 7 10 2,167 1,573 569 4,439 952
                 
Last updated - 2009, Source: FAA
Note:
Airplane pilots includes pilots with an airplane only certificate as well as those with an airplane and a helicopter and/or glider certificate
Glider pilots are not required to have a medical examination; however, totals above represent pilots who received a medical examination.
CFIs not included in total.

Estimated active pilots and flight instructors by FAA region and state (As of 12/31/2008)
  Students Private Commercial ATP Rec Sport TOTALS CFI
FAA Region and State    
Grand Total 80,989 240,683 139,489 149,705 257 2,623 613,746 93,202
United States--Total 75,382 231,322 126,893 142,070 257 2,617 578,541 91,155
Alaskan Region--Total 732 3,346 2,055 2,206 1 37 8,377 1,225
Central Region--Total 5,002 18,664 9,590 11,626 16 265 45,163 7,383
Iowa 721 2,983 1,253 709 1 48 5,715 854
Kansas 909 3,586 1,689 1,380 2 36 7,602 1,355
Kentucky 649 2,059 1,256 2,502 4 30 6,500 1,173
Missouri 1,131 4,244 2,216 2,253 4 71 9,919 1,624
Nebraska 454 1,735 818 564 1 26 3,598 472
Tennessee 1,138 4,057 2,358 4,218 4 54 11,829 1,905
Eastern Region--Total 14,794 44,781 22,504 25,652 89 440 108,260 16,591
Connecticut 672 2,445 1,055 1,494 4 9 5,679 882
Delaware 181 497 303 367 0 5 1,353 234
District of Columbia 88 246 99 69 0 2 504 45
AE (Europe and Canada) 30 133 119 60 0 0 342 34
Maine 302 1,258 602 514 4 27 2,707 370
Maryland 1,419 3,203 1,702 1,807 4 26 8,161 1,212
Massachusetts 1,147 3,970 1,725 1,550 5 26 8,423 1,223
New Hampshire 399 1,433 756 1,357 3 17 3,965 696
New Jersey 1,334 4,150 2,000 2,349 3 22 9,858 1,595
New York 2,837 7,382 3,645 2,951 30 61 16,906 2,652
North Carolina 1,729 5,841 2,933 4,023 5 59 14,590 2,086
Pennsylvania 2,232 7,041 3,365 4,224 16 98 16,976 2,710
Rhode Island 109 468 228 208 1 5 1,019 144
Vermont 138 632 293 275 4 8 1,350 184
Virginia 1,187 5,240 3,281 4,101 9 50 14,568 2,247
West Virginia 290 842 398 303 1 25 1,859 277
Great Lakes Region--Total 10,930 39,657 19,342 20,283 82 715 91,009 15,307
Illinois 2,381 7,694 4,022 4,717 10 135 18,959 3,370
Indiana 1,321 4,788 2,253 2,164 8 119 10,653 1,728
Michigan 1,990 7,046 3,333 3,015 16 129 15,529 2,427
Minnesota 1,294 5,672 2,950 3,555 2 56 13,529 2,465
North Dakota 404 1,127 757 219 0 5 2,512 389
Ohio 1,992 7,438 3,515 4,156 34 115 17,250 2,976
South Dakota 254 1,020 605 336 1 3 2,249 363
Wisconsin 1,294 4,872 1,907 2,121 11 123 10,328 1,589
Northwest Mountain Region--Total 8,399 26,990 15,393 16,068 13 266 67,129 10,949
Colorado 1,736 6,448 4,065 5,588 3 52 17,892 3,292
Idaho 618 2,287 1,153 823 1 39 4,921 710
Montana 540 1,819 1,034 589 3 16 4,001 602
Oregon 1,412 4,617 2,330 1,335 3 43 9,740 1,449
Utah 1,319 3,083 2,050 1,787 0 30 8,269 1,414
Washington 2,504 7,849 4,359 5,651 3 74 20,440 3,231
Wyoming 270 887 402 295 0 12 1,866 251
Southern Region--Total 11,784 29,004 18,847 25,240 21 343 85,239 13,553
Alabama 918 3,010 2,204 1,304 3 22 7,461 1,035
Florida 7,467 16,307 11,102 14,904 13 198 49,991 8,359
Georgia 2,117 6,392 3,612 7,048 3 89 19,261 2,989
Puerto Rico 439 516 381 323 2 5 1,666 220
South Carolina 808 2,703 1,506 1,593 0 29 6,639 924
Virgin Islands 34 69 27 63 0 0 193 22
Southwest Region--Total 10,453 28,160 17,601 20,485 26 300 77,025 11,536
Arkansas 646 2,155 1,389 903 1 41 5,135 703
Louisiana 740 2,029 1,557 1,098 4 29 5,457 787
Mississippi 642 1,584 1,118 942 4 17 4,307 583
New Mexico 685 2,168 1,328 745 3 35 4,964 602
Oklahoma 1,361 3,415 2,109 1,398 5 25 8,313 1,219
Texas 6,379 16,809 10,100 15,399 9 153 48,849 7,643
Western-Pacific Region--Total 13,288 40,720 21,561 20,510 9 251 96,339 14,611
American Samoa 0 0 4 6 0 0 10 0
AP (Pacific) 120 139 196 56 0 1 512 35
Arizona 3,165 7,214 4,800 5,319 1 60 20,559 3,640
California 8,921 30,084 14,085 11,849 8 169 65,116 9,199
Fed St Micronesia 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 1
Guam 7 20 26 101 0 0 154 33
Hawaii 360 794 905 1,020 0 8 3,087 564
Marshall Islands 0 0 2 2 0 0 4 0
Neveda 713 2,468 1,539 2,153 0 13 6,886 1,136
North Marina Islands 1 1 2 4 0 0 8 3
Palau 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
U.S. Affilates 2 1 6 6 0 0 15 4
Armed Forces Personnel 150 272 315 116 0 1 854 69
Outside United States 5,607 9,361 12,596 7,635 0 6 35,205  
Last updated - 2009 Source: FAA
 
Note:
Airplane pilots includes pilots with an airplane only certificate as well as those with an airplane and a helicopter and/or glider certificate
CFIs not included in total.
Grand Total includes Unknown and pilots outside the United States
Armed forces includes military personnel holding civilian certificate stationed in foreign country.